Machine for treating and handling heavy leather



O 1951 J. J. MACIEJOWSK] ETAL 2,571,269

MACHINE FOR TREATING AND HANDLING HEAVY LEATHER Filed April 19, 1950 m a5 1 T 44 40 10 10 3-- Q o 3 Q O o o 0 14 fivmffom i atented Oct. l6, 1 95i MACHINE FOR TREATING AND HANDLING HEAVY LEATHER John J. Maciejowski, Wenham, and Richard W.

.' Daniels, Jr., Salem, Mass, assignors to United .Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J

a 'corp'oration of New :I ers ey I Application April 19, 1950;Serial Nb. 156,826

This invention relates to machines for treating heavy leather, and more .particularly to a sole leather compacting machine in which the: treated work is returned to the operator by operation of the machine.

Heavy leather such as-sole leather is generally compactedto make it more durable and water resistant. The operation has heretofore been performed by rolling the stock under heavy pressure or by using compacting members in combination with suitable anvils. Regardless of the manner in which the compacting is performed, the handling of the stock entails difficulty because of the weight, stiffness and size of each work piece.

A copending application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 112,446, filed August 26, 1949, in the names of John J. Maciejowski and Richard W. Daniels, Jr., discloses a sole leather compacting machine in which the heavy work is simultaneously fed and compacted in a continuous through feed operation. The handling procedure is much simplified as compared with previous methods of compacting but considerable manual labor is essential in the use of the machine of the patent application as at least a second operator must necessarily be provided for handling the heavy and cumbersome discharged pieces particularly if those pieces should require repeated passages through the compacting machine.

It has now been found that the characteristics, and particularly the stiffness or rigidity, as well as the nature of the grain surface, in compacted heavy leathers are such as to permit the handling of consecutively treated work pieces in a much easier and more economical way.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved machine for treating heavy leather in which the work is introduced into and discharged from the same side of the machine with a minimum amount of handling of the consecutively presented work pieces after a passage or between passages of each work piece through the machine.

To this end, and in accordance with an important feature of the invention, there is provided a machine for treating heavy leather, the machine having a chute leading from the work discharge side to the work inlet side.

The invention may be more fully understood from the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a sectional view through the main operative parts of a sole leather compacting machine in which the present invention is embodied; and

1 Claim. (01. 69 1) Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the rear of the machine shown in Fig. 1 and with portions removed for clarity of illustration.

Fig. 1 shows a section through the main operative parts of a sole leather compacting machine as disclosed in the previously mentioned application Serial No. 112,446. The machine is. provided with two sets of rolls, the upper roll in of each set being rubber covered to constitute. a means for feeding the work through the machine. The lower roll l2 of each set is a burnishing roll which is arranged to be rotated more rapidly than its associated upper roll H]. The main frame (generally indicated at [4) of the machine carries two banks of compacting members l6 and also two banks of anvils [3 which are adapted to cooperate with the compacting members to treat a heavy leather Work piece 20. Guide plates 22 and 24 are provided to direct the work through the treatment zone of the machine.

The machine is composed of parts many of which are not shown in the drawings as they are not essential for a proper disclosure of the present invention and of course the form of the frame [4 could be varied appreciably according to the particular design or machine for which the invention is to be adapted. A chute, generally indicated by the numeral 26, is mounted on the frame l4 and includes end sections 30 and 32 (Fig. 2), a top plate 34 having downwardly curved portions 36 and 38 at the front of the machine and over one set of the rolls through which the work 20 is introduced. There are two curved portions 38, each of which corresponds with an end section 30 or 32 and extends forwardly beyond the central or end section 36. The rear portion 40 of the plate 34 is bent downwardly in the form of an are which extends almost to the bight of the rearmost rolls I0 and I2 and terminates slightly above that bight. The chute 26 also includes an arcuate plate 42 which is concentric with the curved portion 4a and forms with the latter a U-shaped channel 44 leading from the bight of the rearmost rolls to the top horizontal portion or plate 34 of the chute. The plate 42 is supported by arcuate plates 46 which are suitably attached to and mounted on a transverse channel bar or beam member 48 of the frame 14.

In operating the machine a Work piece 2!! is introduced between the foremost rolls I8 and I2 (from the right as viewed in Fig. 1) and the work is continuously fed to the left and between the anvils l8 and the compacting members l6 to the discharge rolls i6 and I2 and thence through the channel 44 formed between the portion 40 and the arcuate plate 42. The U-shaped channel 44 constrains the work so that it is directed upwardly and over the machine and into a position where the operator may easily grasp the treated work piece 20 and either reintroduce it to the feeding rolls of the machine or placeit on a suitable place of deposit such as a horse or pallet.

A wide latitude in the extent of curvature or the U-shaped passage is possible, for the=degree of stiffness in compacted sole leather and *the finish imparted to that leather by 'a machine such as that of the nature disclosed. permits smooth discharge and handling of the work. The chute is definitely limited to the treatment of heavy leather as light leathers would not pass along the channel 44 without being pulled through. 5

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by-Letters Paten of the United States is:

A machine forccompacting heavy leather comprising a frame, means on said frame for feeding a work piece in spread-out condition through the machine and in a substantially horizontal plane, means acting simultaneously with the feeding operation for compacting successive por- '4 tions of said work piece, and a U-shaped chute comprising arcuate concentric plates at the rear of the machine defining the curved portion of a U-shaped channel with one end of said chute arranged to receive the workpiece as it i discharged from the workfeegling and compacting means and the other end of said chute being approximately horizontal and extending above the front portion of the machine.

" JOHN J. MACIEJOWSKI.

RICHARD W. DANIELS, JR.

-REI' ERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 

